Black Sabbath
1970
Tracks
1. Black Sabbath
2. Wizard
3. Behind the Wall of Sleep
4. N.I.B.
5. Evil Woman
6. Sleeping Village
7. Warning
8. Wicked World
So, Brie told me on Saturday that her and her boyfriend are planning a cultural intervention on my behalf because of my taste in music. She pointed to my love of songs by Katy Perry, Cee Lo, Kei$ha (I only like "Tik Tok"), and Lady Gaga. She also examined my iPod playlist and said the only reason I know of the classics is because of this blog (like that is a bad thing!). Yikes. So even after almost a year of doing this blog, my music tastes are still considered an embarrassment. I mean, it didn't hurt my feelings but it did make me think. Well, you know what? I don't care. I love learning about new music and listening to these albums and I think no matter what you listen to, if it makes you happy, what's the big deal? Now, I don't think that means you should hide behind a select pair of CDs but when you are constantly exploring new branches of music like I do, why be embarrassed? So I say, screw the intervention, I am having a good time over here. This is me:
God, I hope she never reads this. Especially since my reviews haven't been as insightful as hers so she might be disappointed at what I have done with the place. Anyway, let's get on to the review!
I hated this. I hate heavy metal and I think heavy metal fans get off on the fact that lame people like me abhor them. You guys are so misunderstood:P. The instrumentals were all over the place and the screaming got on my nerves. I am glad I exposed myself to them though since they are so famous.
RATING: 1/5
While I'm mostly wandering around with corrections, there's one thing I've learned in a decade+ of musical travelings: music is not inherently inferior.
ReplyDeleteI listen to death metal (if you think you hate heavy metal, you ain't seen nothin' yet--though this book fails miserably to cover any extreme metal, with only a handful of exceptions, being Napalm Death and the major label thrash metal "Big 4": Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer) but I actually also openly enjoy Lady GaGa, Ke$ha, Cee Lo and Katy Perry myself.
It doesn't mean anything about the quality of your taste.
The only thing I personally don't have time for is abject refusal to consider the unlistened or the unconsidered. Whenever I write about music, it's to try and convey what is lost to people who don't listen to the things I do.
I strongly encourage taking a different mindset when you run up against country or metal. I was averse to country for a long time, and actually took a while to break into metal.
It's about trying to see why others enjoy it, or finding the parts you do like in those things. It works better than you might think, as well. But it also helps that I purchase my music and have a sense of ownership to encourage the idea that it is my finite piece of music to feel out, dissect and understand. I think some of that is lost in the immediacy of digital acquisitions...
Nevermind the confusions that can occur! Varying mixes, masters, tracklists and experiences can mar the collected experience of something like an "album", which, since Rubber Soul, at least, has been intended primarily to be unified work.
There's always a reason these works are in these lists--the arguments come less from their having a place, and more from whether there is another work that deserves to appear. I'd suggest that Big Star's Radio City ought to have appeared in this list, but I also realize that the inclusion of #1 Record kind of covers that ground, and keeps space to include the things I don't understand the value of yet.
That's the joy of these books: some people think it's about going through and ripping out titles and releases and discarding them as undeserving. But really, the joy of it is in understanding why someone else would suggest it.
I've dropped a lot of my prejudices and preconceptions about music--many of which are socially ingrained, and have no inherent value--and I've been much happier and more appreciative for that.
I strongly recommend it, especially as you go through something like this book. If you want to learn about music, make sure to try to understand that which seems incomprehensible. Many things you don't see value in so far, I can explain (and others could explain better than me, to be honest). Some things I couldn't, because I don't yet understand them myself.
Pardon my ramblings; I derive some relief from expressing my frustration at the rantings about movies and film that wander the internet and stem from exiting comfortable territory, but I also know there are real people behind them.
I don't expect everyone to like everything, nor will everyone. But when you try to take on tons of genres, a certain measure of effort is just intrinsically necessary.
In any case: have a good day and good luck.
I agree with maybe 90% of what you said in your comment. I think that the point of going through a book like this is to gain a better understanding of music. However, at a certain point, if I don't like a type of music I am not going to spend that much time on it. There is too much brilliant music in the world to waste time on stuff I don't like.
DeleteThen again, you seem to think that all these review blogs should be informative and knowledgeable; I just think it should be a fun place where we can talk about music.
I know from this comment and others of yours I have seen on people's blogs that you don't agree with a lot of review blogs. My advice would be then to stop reading them if they are just going to upset you.
Have a good day, thanks for visiting, and what is your picture of??